The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Tremendous changes have been occurring in the Internet that influence our everyday lives. For example, in today's society, mobile computing devices are becoming ubiquitous. Many mobile computing devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular phones, and the like, may be employed to communicate voice messages, emails, text messages, and so forth, as well as to search for information over the Internet. It is not uncommon to see a person on a bus, train, or boat to be using their mobile devices to search for merchants, restaurants, music, businesses, or the like. It is conceivable these devices will eventually be allowed on planes, at least for wireless Internet access.
Translating the traditional web page browsing interaction and content consumption experience to the mobile environment has generally resulted in less-than-satisfactory experiences for the user due to a variety of reasons. In a mobile device, screen real estate is at a minimum. Navigation of any presented information may be dependent upon, or subject to the quirks of, the particular mobile device. Typically, the user is not in an environment conducive to casual exploration of the World Wide Web. In fact, the user may be in a changing environment that itself demands the lion's share of the user's attention. Thus the tailoring of search engine results and content consumption to the mobile experience is of prime importance to the user.
Along with the desire to perform relevant active information searches, some mobile device users may desire delivery of content in a more automatic manner, possibly with the content tailored to a unique set of interests, such as hobbies or social network groups. Even if a user has the time, energy, and technical skills necessary to manually configure a mobile device, the user will likely be forced to remain content to receive a narrow set of pre-defined information sources, such as news headlines, weather and sports. Yet other users may desire delivery of particular content depending on the current user environment.
Similarly, advertisers desire to provide information that is tailored to each user and enhances the user experience. An advertiser can approximate this goal through delivery of advertising material as part of delivery of search engine results, because of the likely correlation between the user search terms and the user's actual interests. However, in the mobile environment when the user is not searching, advertisers typically have limited ability to reach a target audience that is likely on the move and in need of information relevant to the environment they are in or going to.